This report outlines the steps the Community Fund established to create an effective, case-based approach to disaster outreach. The Survivor's Fund was established immediately after the attacks on 9/11 by community leaders in the Washington DC area. The Fund closed earlier in March of 2008 after it had raised more than $25 million from local residents to help the families devastated by the attacks.

This is a report released by George Mason Univ.'s Mercatus Center on Global Prosperity Initiative. It talks about the breakdown of reliance on a centralized federal response system used in cases like Katrina and how the private sector was much more resilient in helping to respond and recover. At the heart of this argument however is not that the private sector should take over disaster response, it's that because many private sector stakeholders have huge and effective supply chain and infrastructure in place, they can augment a public sector response.

This report, released by the National Academies looks into stresses the transportation infrastructure will face with more severe weather. It focuses on five main areas and says that federal, state and local governments must cooperate with private and public stakeholders to develop adequate emergency response plans.

As the climate changes in many parts of the world, the Oxford Research Group has looked into the role of law enforcement and its relationship in responding to potentially dwindling resources, strains on one population migrating in neighboring communities and how to mitigate crises.

According to this annual report, the NYDIS: "New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) is a 501(c)(3) faith-based federation of service providers and charitable organizations who work in partnership to provide disaster readiness, response, and recovery services for New York City. Our mission is to coordinate, develop, and support these disaster services to mitigate the harm of, prepare for, and respond to all hazards – both natural and human-caused. NYDIS provides secular human services to faith communities and individuals alike, regardless of membership status or religious affiliation. In times of crisis, NYDIS convenes its leadership to network with government agencies and local, state, and national organizations involved in disaster management."

**NB** Some pictures in this report may appear dark because of compression. To download the original report (5.6 Mb) you can visit this link: http://www.iclei.org/documents/USA/download/0709climateGUIDEweb.pdf

This report released by the ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - addressing the steps all sizes of communities can take to help incorporate changing climate patterns into their overall preparedness and response systems. Topics include possible pandemic, drought, severe storms and emergency response challenges and possible solutions.

This emergency preparedness guide was developed by the Louisiana State Animal Response Team to teach residents how to prepare disaster response plans for their families pets and farm animals.

Volunteer emergency responder recruitment and retention |

The U.S. Fire Administration released this report detailing the current state of volunteer recruitment for their emergency response services in the U.S. The report found that citizens were still willing to contribute time and resources so long as a certain set of criteria were in place.

The American Microchip Advisory Council for Animals announced a new disaster preparedness guide for animal caregivers that helps state and local governments meed federal requirements for pet and domestic animal evcaution and emergency preparedness.

A Congressional Research Service report found that terrorist operations are relying more and more on crime as a way to fund their planned and future operations. Those findings, the report says, present Congress and law enforcement agencies with unique dangers.

A proposal to standardize drivers' licenses across the U.S. in order to promote more secure and reliable identification measures. Proponents of the act said having a federal protocol would help to increase the overall security of the country.

The federal government and the media have partnered through the Emergency Alert System to help alert the public in times of emergency or a disaster. However, federal regulators have said being able to track performance of the various media outlets will be hard and difficult to qualify.

To help businesses plan for pandemic response and preparedness, the U.S. Department of Occupational Health and Safety Administration released a series of guidelines designed to maintain such vital business operations as food supply distribution and electricity production.

Charleston County, South Carolina has developed a Hurricane Preparedness Guide for residents of the county and the city to help them identify ways to prepare for the large storms. The guide provides valuable information such as contact numbers for local emergency response operations, law enforcement and EMS as well as information on hurricanes and how to keep families safe.

Similar to the World Economic Forum's report on the potential threats facing the world in 2007, the Oxford Research Group's report finds that by working to create sustainable economies and agricultural practices, many of terrorism's ingredients can be eliminated.

The U.S. Fire Administration released these best practices for avian flu pandemic response to help local and state responders understand the complexity and challenges facing communities in the event of an outbreak. Education of the communities is the best safeguard against potential break-downs in the community during a pandemic.

County emergency management is important in the larger response context. This report by the National Association of Counties looks into counties' abilities to handle disaster response operations and the current state of county response preparedness in the U.S..

This study, compiled by a Fellow of the Canadian Defense & Foreign Affairs Institute, looks into the apparent relationship between the rise of homeland security spending in Western countries and the level of anxiety from the general public. As spending increases, so does the level of nervousness, the study found.

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region, federal, state and local governments as well as community, private, relief organizations and academic institutions asked what are the implications of such a large disaster on the affected communities and the nation as a whole. This Brookings Institute paper handles some of those questions.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials released their Strategic Highway Safety Plan to try an curb the amount of accidents occurring on the nation's roadways. The plan also works to develop and implement a national blueprint that would involve "all elements of the traffic safety community" and work to increase the level of communication and education of communities.

As global warming continues to raise temperatures, shifting weather patterns will create more natural disasters that will affect responders, private citizens and the business community. The British government released its report on preparedness plans for businesses facing possible financial loss due to global climate change.

The Council for Excellence in Government is a non-profit organization "that serves as an independent catalyst for constructive change in government." The council released a "report card" on American's individual and family emergency preparedness and found that a majority of Americans are not prepared to handle a disaster, nor do they have an emergency preparedness or response plan in place.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security, released in July 2002, outlined the initial move by the federal government to establish a national network dedicated to protecting and preparing the U.S. against the threat of a terrorist attack or a large-scale natural disaster. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security amalgamated more than 22 pre-existing federal agencies under one aegis.

The National Response Plan was released in 2004. It outlines the process and fundamental guidelines for the communication and coordination of federal, state and local emergency management operations. In the words of DHS, the plan "establishes a comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents."

To help coordinate national-level emergency disaster response and to improve the national emergency response mechanism, the Heritage Foundation recommended that the federal government should create "national standards [that] must be established for a national response system that will enable it to respond to everyday demands, establish regional and national communications, and operate when the infrastructure is degraded."

The Forgotten Homeland is a task force report released by the Century Foundation that focuses on homeland security efforts in place in the U.S. and the state of homeland preparedness. The report came to three main conclusions: that urban areas are the most at risk of a terrorist attack; that public/private partnerships will be the most effective homeland security initiatives; and that the federal government must work to improve their performance on responsibilities such as port security and border protection.

The University of Minnesota's Food Protection and Defense Department released a report which researched the public's reaction to the threat of terrorism as well as the initial response to a terrorist threat. The report found there to be six different ways people tend to respond ranging from completely paralyzed with fear, to utterly not caring.

Second Harvest has partnered with FEMA to help provide food for those affected by disasters - man made and natural. This particular Memorandum of Understanding, the press release reads, "is [an] important public sector / private sector partnership that will ensure a swift response to disasters and ensure that emergency food, water and grocery products can be quickly moved to people in need."

The Salvation Army has been working with FEMA to provide emergency disaster assistance to communities and families affected by natural and man made events. The organization was given disaster relief status under the Robert T. Stafford Emergency and Disaster Assistance Act.

2005 was one of the worst years on record for large and catastrophic storms. Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita helped to inflict some of the most severe and expensive damage in U.S. history on communities in the Gulf Coast area. After its response, the Red Cross released a report detailing emergency operations following the storms. Later in 2006, the organization announced a reorganization of management and operations.

This report released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies looks at the evolving responsibilities of the National Guard after the attacks on 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of note is the traditional participation of local first responders in the National Guard who, because of the wars, are no longer in their communities.

The Department of Homeland Security released these planning scenarios for fifteen different events which would require cooperation, response and containment from all levels of government as well as help from community-based organizations, the private sector and individual citizens. The National Planning Scenarios were written to provide "the design basis for exercises throughout the Nation," to help prepare for catastrophic events.